Here goes.... The first model I've finished in over two years. I got back into the hobby about three years ago, or a year before my twin sons arrived. Needless to say, I haven't had much time at the bench for quite a while. I had this Jeep sitting around half finished so I decided to finally move it to the completed column. The photos aren't great and make the paint look shinier than it is. This was also my first time "messing" around with pigments, which I'm sure is very obvious. Using pigments is definitely an area I need to practice. Do you have any other suggestions, hints, or advice? Thanks, guys!

Hi Michael,

Congratulations on getting the kit built. Nice looking build. Only observation would be the 'mud' on the tyres, The dark brown doesn't look very real. Do you have any MIG pigments? I find they work best for me, I'm still learning too.

I like you're stowage, remember if you are going to make it muddy think about under the arches and the springs etc.

If you want to show a few worn areas, then try a lead pencil on the floor edges, sides of the bumper etc.

Nice work for a first finished build.

Al

Thanks, Al! I really appreciate your comments. I had six unopened bottles of Mig pigments on my desk and I finally decided to crack them open. I agree that I didn't make a very good color choice for the mud, and I was pretty lazy with the application. Mostly, I was just testing the waters and went a little overboard. At least I know what to expect the next time I try them. You know, I do have a lead pencil on my desk, but didn't even think about using it. Thanks for the tip!

I'm also working on a half finished universal carrier, so I'll probably try some pigments on the tracks. I'll try out the pencil technique a bit too.

Thanks again!

Michael,

I hope you don't mind me showing you the method I used to get the wheels and tyres dusty on my Famo.




I used a set of resin wheels and tyres but the method is just the same for all, I even use it for braille scale kits.

The wheels and tyres were first of all sprayed with Tamiya Nato Black. Then the wheels were sprayed with Tamiya Dark Yellow so that they were all finished but still looked brand new!! I mixed some Mig Pigment Europe Dust with enamel thinners and with a largish paint brush, applied it over the wheels and tyres so that they were completely covered. Leave it to dry completely.

The next bit is tricky to describe but I will give it a go!

The idea is to leave the pigment paste only in the tyre treads, so it must be removed from the bit that would be in contact with the road surface and also the side walls. To start with get a cotton bud (do you call them Q Tips or something) and dip it in clean enamel thinners. Wipe / scrub the side walls of the tyres. Clean the bud and keep repeating until it looks ok.
Brush some thinners on to the wheels / tyres and wrap them in a small piece of rag or kitchen roll and rub it backwards and forwards between your thumb and fingers a few times. Do this for the sidewalls and the treaded area. This should leave the pigment paste just in the tyre treads and round the makers name on the side wall but not on the tyre itself.
If you are not happy with it, you can remove or add more paste until you get the look you are after.

Sorry about the long explanation but it's one of those jobs that is easier to do than to describe!

Hope that helps.

Can you tell me how you painted the rifle in the front passenger seat, and what colours / paints you used, please?

Andy

Andy -

I don't mind at all! In fact, I'm really glad you shared your method, because now I know what to try next time. Your results are awesome, by the way. What ratio of thinner to pigments do you use? Also, do you have any tips for using pigments on tracks?

Gosh, I painted the M1 in the front seat quite a while ago. I was using Tamiya paints at the time, so I think I started with a dark yellow coat. Then I added a thinned coat of red brown (I think). After that, I added some Future just messing around, and I believe I tried a small wash after that. The Future smoothed out the details of the wood (I didn't apply any Future to the metals parts of the gun) and, of course, made it glossy. It stayed that way until a week or so ago when I added a coat of Vallejo matte. I still have trouble painting wood to look realistic. In fact, I have three Bren guns on my bench that I keep staring at. All I've done so far is prime them.

Thanks again, Andy. I do appreciate the tips and will happily accept any more!

Michael

Michael,

I don't have an exact ratio of thinners to pigment, but you want to achieve something that looks like a paste. I use a pallette from an art shop for my mixing. Start with a small pile of pigment (or even mix two or more together) I used Beach Sand and Europe dust on the tracks of my Famo. Then add a few drops of thinners and "stir" it all together. If it's still too dry then add a few more drops of thinners. Repeat until you end up with a paste that you can paint onto your wheels / tracks or whatever you want and leave the whole thing to dry. Then as I said in my previous post, get to work with the thinners and rag / Q Tip until you get the desired effect. Don't forget, if it all goes wrong you can remove your pigments with thinners and try again.

I can tell you how I did the tracks you can see on my Famo. First they were sprayed XF64 Tamiya Red Brown, and then a light spray of XF57 Buff. The pads were painted with Vallejo 862 Black Grey. I then applied a paste mix of Europe Dust and Beach Sand pigments. I write all this stuff down in a book so I can get the same effect again on another model, if I want to.

I use these pigments on all my tracks, but remember the colours you use will depend on what sort of environment the vehicle had been operating in, and also the weather conditions - dry / dusty / mud / on a road / across a field etc. You just have to vary your pigments to suit the terrain.

Let me know if there's anything else you want to know.

Andy

Hi Michael,

I'll look forward to you carrier, a favourite vahicle of mine. On the jeep, don't be afraid to use it to experiment further on. On the tyres I tend to make them slighly greyish. If you look at most vehicles they are not truely black, at least not once they have left the showroom.

The biggest problem with the old Tamiya carrier are the tracks, they just look and are hopeless. If you want some good but reasonably priced replacements try the Resicast set about 9 euro I think. They are resin but fairly easy to work wirh and 100% better than the kit tracks.

If you want a little mud on you vehicle try drying out a little garden soil, scrunch it up real fine and then dab a bit of white glue on where you want it to stick and sprinkle on a bit of mud. Let it dry and dust it up with some migh pigments. If you don't like it just wash it off with some warm water.

Al

The jeep is very nice. I hope that when I build my jeep it looks so good jeepkid019

Nice looking Jeep Michael, welcome back to the hobby! Keep at practicing with those pigments, lot's of folks here with tons of advice, that's for sure! Looking forward to your next build.

Cheers -
Tim

Michael,

Here are a couple of pictures of my first jeep. Hope you like them.

Andy

really nice job. the jeep looks real nice and and "alive". I like these kind of models.

great vehicle

Guys, sorry I'm just now getting back to this thread. My wife had surgery, so I've been away from modeling for several weeks now.

Alan, I've never thought about using real dirt to make mud. Do you have any photos where you used it? And you're right about the carrier tracks - they are crud. I used them anyway since I was working on the model to try out a few new things, including PE. I got the Edward set and it was my first time using PE. Also my first time using Lifecolor paints and trying out oils. It's definitely a fun kit.

Andy - great jeep! Who makes the trailer? Also, how did you get the texture on the seats?

Everyone else - thanks for the comments and encouragement!

Michael

Michael,

First the important stuff. I hope your wife is ok after her surgery. Messing about with bits of plastic like we do is nothing compared to the health of your loved ones.

The jeep kit is Italeri and comes with the trailer.



The seats are done by cutting tissue paper slightly larger than the seats. Soak the pieces in thinned PVA glue and put in place. When the glue has set just trim the tissue to the right size and paint as normal.

Hope that helps.

Andy